You will know that an actor is very good at his craft when you forget about him while watching his movie. In the movie Milk, Sean Penn made me forget about Sean Penn and introduced me to Harvey Milk. I knew nothing about Harvey Bernard Milk and gave not a thought about gay activism until this movie. If Harvey Milk’s character was really like how Sean Penn portrayed him in this movie, then I can say that that was the very reason why he succeeded in becoming the first openly gay man to be elected to public office in California. And to think that that was during the 70s.
The movie is about a man’s rather graceful struggle to find his place in a community that is both judgmental and unfair. To show this in the movie without telling it, it takes the genius of a Gus Van Sant and the artistry of a Harris Savides. To bring us to the time and into the life of Harvey Milk, Van Sant and Savides shot many parts of the film on the actual streets in San Francisco where Harvey Milk had walked and lived much of his life as an openly gay man in a society that was not really sure about how to react to his sexuality. The way they seamlessly blended documentary footage into this film gives it more power in bringing us into that particular time.
But let us not limit the credit for the beauty of this film to just Penn, Sant, and Savides; the whole cast did perfectly well in this film. Emile Hirsch, with his impeccable acting, deserves an award here. And who could miss Josh Brolin’s presence here? The wonder of it all is how the cast and the director made the complicated story of Milk’s life come alive to us in a very clear manner in this movie. This is a must see film.
Milk
December 17th, 2008 by Gumer ListonBiography, Movie Commentary
The movie is about a man’s rather graceful struggle to find his place in a community that is both judgmental and unfair. To show this in the movie without telling it, it takes the genius of a Gus Van Sant and the artistry of a Harris Savides. To bring us to the time and into the life of Harvey Milk, Van Sant and Savides shot many parts of the film on the actual streets in San Francisco where Harvey Milk had walked and lived much of his life as an openly gay man in a society that was not really sure about how to react to his sexuality. The way they seamlessly blended documentary footage into this film gives it more power in bringing us into that particular time.
But let us not limit the credit for the beauty of this film to just Penn, Sant, and Savides; the whole cast did perfectly well in this film. Emile Hirsch, with his impeccable acting, deserves an award here. And who could miss Josh Brolin’s presence here? The wonder of it all is how the cast and the director made the complicated story of Milk’s life come alive to us in a very clear manner in this movie. This is a must see film.